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2018 - The Golden Man Booker Prize

The Golden Man Booker Prize

To mark the 50th anniversary in 2018, The Booker Prize Foundation launched the Golden Man Booker Prize - a special one-off award that crowned the best work of fiction from the last five decades of prize, as chosen by five judges and then voted for by the public.

The Golden Man Booker put all 51 winners – all of which are still in print – back under the spotlight, to discover which of them has stood the test of time, remaining relevant to readers today.

Five judges were appointed to read the winning novels from each decade of the prize: writer and editor Robert McCrum (1970s); poet Lemn Sissay MBE (1980s); novelist Kamila Shamsie (1990s); broadcaster and novelist Simon Mayo (2000s); and poet Hollie McNish (2010s).

Each judge chose what, in his or her opinion, is the best winner from that particular decade, and championed that book against the other judges’ selections.

The judges’ ‘Golden Five’ shortlist was announced at the Hay Festival on 26 May 2018. The five books were then put to a month-long public vote from 26 May to 25 June to decide the overall winner.

The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje (Bloomsbury) was crowned the best work of fiction from the last five decades of the Man Booker Prize, announced on Sunday 8 July. The Golden Man Booker winner was revealed at the closing event of the Man Booker 50 Festival in Royal Festival Hall at Southbank Centre.

The 50th anniversary of the prize was magnified globally with author events at international literary festivals across the world, and major festivals in the UK, including Hay Festival, Cheltenham Literature Festival and Edinburgh International Book Festival amongst others. Past winners of the prize were also invited to a very special reception at Buckingham Palace on 5th July 2018 to mark the occasion. Watch the video